Considered. Otherwise have done it and its shown to make the lives of sex workers safer. Back when he was asked in march, he said he didnt have an answer for that. Thats going to wrap up this hour. Ill see you tomorrow morning on today. Andrea mitchell reports starts right now. Big mistake, President Trump with a stern message for iran after iran shoots down an unmanned american drone in what the u. S. Is calling an unprovoked attack over International Waters and iran claims violated their airspace. These are very precisely guided, unmanned, run by high tech computers. I would bet almost anything that was in International Airspace. I think its a dangerous situation. High tension wires are up in the region. We expect to hear from President Trump this hour. No apologies. Joe biden standing by his controversial comments about working with segregationist
senators in the past. Cory booker is demanding he apologize. Apologize for what . Booker has called for it. Cory should apologize. He knows better. Theres not a racist bone in my body. Ive been in civil rights my whole career, period, period, period. And hes back. Former alabama judge roy moore about to announce whether hes going to make another run for the Senate Despite failing in 2017 because of sexual abuse allegations and other controversies. I believe in the second amendment. Good day everyone. Im Andrea Mitchell in washington. We expect to hear mr. The president at any moment as he meets with canadas Prime MinisterJustin Trudeau today. This as tensions are increasing after iran shot down an unmanned u. S. Drone, a 120 million global hawk near the strait of
hormuz overnight. Iran says the drone violated iranian airspace. U. S. Officials contend the drone was flying in International Airspace. The president just wrapped up a meeting with his National Security team and congressional leaders are also being briefed. We have it all covered for you from The Middle East from the white house to capitol hill. Nbcs Courtney Kube in the united arab emirates. Nbcs Kristen Welker at the white house. Retired army kerr nall jack jacobs and democratic congresswoman Chrissy Houlihan who served on the Armed Services and Foreign Affairs committees. Welcome all. Courtney, first to you, there in the uae, obviously tensions were escalati escalating. We know about the tanker attacks. Irans denials, the u. S. Claims. The only issue here is where was that unarmed predator, whether it was in International Airspace or over iran as iran contends. As you mentioned, the united
states says it was in International Airspace. Iran says it drafted into iranian airspace. What this could be is an issue that frequently comes up here that iran believes it controls more area in the air and at sea in the Strait Of Hormuz outside the 12 Nautical Mile line that most of the International Community recognizes and International Airspace and waterways. You mentioned this comes at a time when the tensions here are very high between the United States and iran. This shootdown of this drone is the first direct time in this tension that began in early may where, in fact, the iranian military, the Revolutionary Guard Core acknowledges a direct attack on the u. S. Military. There have been three times in recent days where u. S. Drones have been targeted, one time in early june was by houthi rebels, they shot down a u. S. Drone. Another time what is believed to be an iranian guard core ship
shot at a u. S. Drone but missed it. The fact that this global hawk, which is a High Altitude reconnaissance unmanned drone, the fact it was struck and shot down is a new level of escalation in these tension, andrea. The existence of these drones tell us a lot about all the slade i dont of the tankers as well because these are basically surveillance. They can be used offensively or defensively, but basically there for surveillance over the strait which is the key stroet stroke point. Kristen welker at the white house, the president is going into a meeting. Prime minister trudeau to arrive at the west portico very shortly. The president owes posture here. We know theres been some disgleemt among his advisers, pompeo, others, hawks arguing for diplomacy. What do we expect . Andrea, we just got a tweet
from President Trump who said iran made a very big mistake. So thats his direct response to Everything Courtney is reporting on. What is he going to do about it . That is the question. Thats the topic of that meeting that you just talked about. Here at the white house with the National Security team. President trump, as you mentioned, about to meet with Prime MinisterJustin Trudeau. So i can tell you that my other teammates out, about to shout questions to President Trump to try to get some specific answers about how hes going to handle this. We know that President Trump has been resistant to get engaged in foreign engagements. He has been signaling that, andrea. He was asked about these mounting tensions between the u. S. And iran overnight on fox news. He said dont worry about it, everything is under control. Recently when he was asked whether he was poised to take any Military Action against iran, President Trump said, look, he would do that if he felt there was an eminent nuclear threat. However, he signaled hes not prepared to take any Military Action at that point for any of these other types of incidents that theyve been tracking here. Now, again, as the calculation changed in the wake of what happened, this is again a new provocation by iran based on how the white house perceives it. We know theyre trying to determine exactly what they will do and what the response will look like, andrea. Kristen, the president was tweeting about the big mistake. I wanted to play something, Lindsey Graham speaking on capitol hill. Listen to this. So here is what iran needs to get ready for, severe pain inside their country, that their capabilities pale in comparison to ours. We wont let them disrupt navigation of the see, attack our allies with u. S. Interests without paying a price. If theyre itching for a fight, theyre going to get there. How close are we to doing that . Were a lot closer today than yesterday. Only god knows what tomorrow brings. Kristen, i think that happened so briefly ago that this was after they were briefed. He is the chairman of the Armed Services, as you well know. Nancy pelosi said this gang of eight, the socalled leaders, leadership in the key committees was going to be expanded to a gang of 20 perhaps. Theyve been briefed on exactly what happened when he responded. Kristen. I think thats right. We know senator graham is going to be heading here to the white house to meet with President Trump as well. Our Kelly Odonnell reporting that. So clearly he is sending a very strong signal that they are looking at some type of retaliatory action. What will that look like . How robust will it be . As you point out, there are divisions here behind the scenes kristen, let me point out. Youre right inside there. Justin trudeau standing with the president in the west politico. Let me pause and see if theres a question. Theyve turned and gone in. We will hear from them, i would suspect, you know better than i, kristen, being right there. The pool will be brought in and well see whether he answers questions there. As you were just saying, we have to see what kind of possible retaliation might take place. What Secretary Pompeo said was that, if they hit one u. S. Service member, they would expect action. Theyve now hit an unmanned 120 Million Drone and the argument is, of course, a dispute over exactly where it took place. Kristen. Right. As you can see behind me, the report evers rushing past. That is because theyre now going to go to the oval office where that bilateral meeting is poised to take place between President Trump and Prime Minister trudeau. As you pointed out, that would be an opportunity for the press to be closer to the president and try to get some questions to him about all of this. What specifically would any type of retaliatory action look like . That has to be at the top of the list of questions that President Trump is preparing to answer. Will he answer those questions . Administration officials not giving us any definitive answer. They certainly have been signaling that obviously thats going to be the president s first real opportunity to respond to this. I think its worth underscoring, there have been divisions within this administration. National security adviser john bolton typically more hawkish when it comes to responding to these types of provocations. You can see the u. S. Press corps now following head back as we speak for that meeting to take place in the oval office. Hopefully well be getting a readout of what the president and Prime Minister have to say any minute now. Andrea, this is, of course, all taking place just as you have acting Defense Secretary, patrick shanahan, who was in that meeting today, poised to depart, and the incoming acting Defense Secretary esper going to take his place. Theres no official person in that role right now as the
president navigates this Foreign Policy challenge. I know mark esper, the new anding Defense Secretary is supposed to take over officially as acting on monday. Kerchl jack jacobs, as kristen stands by waiting for the president to make any comments that he does make, i want to also bring up Foreign Minister zarif has tweeted as well saying the u. S. Wages economic terrorism on iran, has conducted Covert Action against us and now encroaches on our territory. We dont seek war but will zealously defend our skies, land and waters. Well take this new aggression to the un and show that the u. S. Is lying about International Waters. Jack, i can think back to 1987 when it was Ronald Reagan and we
were escorting ships through the Strait Of Hormuz which is that choke point. This is the kind of tension weve seen before. Its a real test of a commanderinchief. Whats really interesting, it was brought up earlier and it bears repeating, theres a break somewhere in the administration between the president who is less hawk wish aish and some of advisers including mike pompeo, Secretary Of State and john bolton, the National Security adviser, who wants to bring iran to its knees as best as it can using any means possible. I think the president is disinclined to do anything. You can tell by what happened out there, we have the capability of determining where a missile comes from as it is launched before it even hits the target. Indeed we have surveillance jack, as you can tell, this is a breaking news day. Congresswoman as well, the pentagon beginning a briefing. Lets go to that and hear if we get an update. Everybody stand by. Thanks. Fired from a location in the vicinity of boruk, iran. This was an unprovoked attack on a u. S. Surveillance that had not violate airspace at any time during its mission. This attack is an as attempt to disrupt our ability to monitor the area following recent threats to International Shipping and the free flow of commerce. Iranian reports this was shot down over iran are categorically false. The aircraft was over the Strait Of Hormuz and fell into International Waters. At the time of the intercept, the rq4 was operating at high
altitude, approximately 34 kilometers from the nearest point of land on the iranian choice. This dangerous and escalatory attack occurred in established air quarters between dubai and muscat, possibly endangering innocent civilians. Thank you. Colonel jack jacobs, you just heard that Audio Briefing from the air base. Lets talk about what your interpretation of this. I was going to ask you, what are the chances that a global hawk could drift into iranian airspace . Well, anything is possible, but its highly unlikely. These will very closely monitored and controlled. We can determine its location down to less than a meter, very, very close to where it is. Theres very little doubt in anybodys mind that this was, in fact, in the middle of the straits, already recognized as a safe passage area. I think its interesting to note that the attack took place at all when iran would prefer not to engage the United States, and yet the attack occurred i think principally because the Revolutionary Guard Corps wants to follow its own path and own course, thus the attack on the ships in the straits earlier this week and this attack on the aircraft today. But it points out Something Else, too. It points out that theres a split also in the Administrat N administration, because the Rules Of Engagement were such that we did not immediately respond to the launch, otherwise we would have attacked before the missile even hit the global hawk if it was pointed toward it because we can tell when the
missiles are being prepared for launch, when theyre launched before they hit the target, and we can also respond obviously after it hits the target, and yet, we did not respond and we didnt respond because probably the president of the United States with the Chain Of Command sent Rules Of Engagement down that said we would not respond, very much different probably than if john bolton had been in charge or even mike pompeo had been in charge. Whats left now is the opportunity to use a wide variety of means to make life a little more difficult for iran including exactly the thing they want to avoid and thats further economic strictures. Still we have the capability of attacking on iranian soil, but its unlikely that were going to be doing that, andrea. Thats such valuable insight. Courtney kube, before you have to go to another deployment there, lets talk about that. That can certainly indicate that the Rules Of Engagement are a moderated response, moderated eggsing lags. It reflects the president s thinking, certainly and perhaps not the thinking of his National Security adviser. Tlaert, andrea. Look how the u. S. Military has responded as the tensions and really whats become a game of chicken has continued to go on. First the u. S. Surged an Aircraft Carrier headed to the region. They accelerated the deployment, they brought in additional bombers, additional defense aircraft, additional troops and some patriots. The majority of the u. S. Military response so far has been a combination of sending a message to iran to show they have a strong presence in the region with the hope it would be about deterring iran from continuing any kind of provocations, just to stop iran from any kind of attacks. What iran seems to be doing here is both through proxies and through the Iranian Revolutionary guard corps, taking these provocations and attacks right up to the line where it would potentially warrant a u. S. Military response. Look at the at Statacks Against saudi arabia, United States allies, commercial shipping like the tankers in the gulf of oman last week. I went to one of the tankers, the courageous, and saw the blast holes in the side of it up close. I can tell you that the blast in it, it barely made it was a large hole but it was not going to sink that vessel. It seems as if these provocations and attacks by iran are to send a message just as much as the u. S. Military deployments are to send a message of deterrence. Courtney kube, so interesting. I want to point out, also, for everyone that as the president was walking in with Prime Minister trudeau, there was a
shouted question which we could not hear. It was a response to iran and the president mouthed the words, not audibly, youll soon find out. With that on the table, congresswoman houlihan, youve heard all of what